In July I started seriously focussing on finishing all the Necrons I have. You may wonder why, as the net wisdom is that Necrons are not that competitive (though I disagree heartily), but the simple reason is that I'm a sucker for Terminator like Death Robots. So I broke out one of my old school necron models for kicks and will endeavour to update the look and translate it to the more modern plastic Necrons. I aim to finish the year off by focussing on and completing whatever Necrons I have kicking around. And perhaps if there is anything left, pick up one of the new Forgeworld Necron Tomb Stalkers.
Here are some basic build pics. I've got the old school Necron there for comparative purposes, and to get an idea of scale and style. There are a lot of design cues still present, but it's interesting to see how they have been redesigned. I also tossed the scarab in there for nostalgia. I do plan on using that original paint scheme (or a version of it) on the new Necrons.
Notice I built these Necrons to be standing more upright than Necrons are typically depicted. I don't like the hunched over look as they remind me too much of Igor hunchbacks and don't seem menacing and looming enough. I wanted them to be more reminscint of CSM-101 Terminators than undead ghouls. However, to do this, I had to modify the necks so the heads would sit properly without looking up as if they are distracted by something in the sky. A couple snips with a clipper on the control rods and the heads could be pivoted and positioned much more convincingly.
Finally, I have done a bit of a test to see what I can do with tinting the green rod. Below I have used some Asurmen Blue and washed it onto the green rod sprue. You can see it actually dries fairly evenly, despite being a very smooth surface. I like this because the tube does retain some of the green tone, but looks more 3 dimensional, like there is a substance floating inside the tube.
I also did an experiment to see if I could get the tubes to look not so shiny and toy like. Some would suggest using a matt seal, and that will probably work. But I have figured out an alternate method which involves lightly coating the tube with liquid plastic cement - sorry, no picture. I think that it looks rather nice in person, but am unsure if I will pursue that, as I rather like the colour tint. I will decide later on in the project, and will probably just assemble the green tubes stock for now to save on some time.
And here are the Necrons I finished painting in July, though I actually built 20 more Necron Warriors.
Of note, these are strictly painted to a simple standard to get them table ready. I did not colour tint the rod, as I was testing, because I still want to experiment with that. And I have not yet added the extra should scarab shell detail, as I want to do that detail on the army as a whole. So to give them a finished look, I played off the green rod, adding some green glowing elements to the gun, as well as the eyes (hidden in shadow) and gave them a bit of a green wash to represent poison on the bayonet blade.
Can't wait to see how the tinted rods turn out on actual models- so far, the idea seems brilliant to me. Toying around with the rods or replacing them with something else is actually one of the reasons why I'm considering to pick up a box of necrons one day. Just to see what i can do with them, also color scheme wise, of course. It appeals to my imagination.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ithmaril, and thanks for all the comments. Glad to see you back in action, man!
ReplyDeleteI am focussing on the basic work first, but I hope I can have some colour tests done before December. No guarantees though. Life has been hectic and I haven't been very actively painting lately.